2 lifers in 2 days plus a White Billed Diver in Kent

                               12th November 2018 : Cleveland

Roosting Little Swift.

News of a Little Swift in Hartlepool on the 11th got my pulse racing as i have never seen one in the UK before  (i dipped one in New Brighton in 2012), and when it was seen to go to roost on the right hand side of a windowsill at 12 Cliff terrace the decision to go was made alot easier.

Wide awake now.

We got to Hartlepool in good time and joined the other birders present , even in the dark you could clearly see the white rump on the Little Swift and as sun rise approached the bird came into view in its fullness , lots of movement and a couple of wing stretches later it was only a matter of time before the Little Swift would leave the roost.

Little Swift leaving the roost.

And at 7.18am the Little Swift was off and away and thankfully it was re located nearby feeding just of Town moor , the Little Swift gave some excellent views often flying just above our heads , here are some photos i took .

Little Swift.

Many thanks to RR for a great trip.

13th November  :  Joss Bay Kent.

1 of 2 Pallid Swifts.

After the excitement of seeing the Little Swift yesterday the 12th i was hopeful that a Pallid Swift would reappear locally as there has  been plenty of sightings recently.

Pallid Swift

There was an early report of a Pallid Swift near Forness point but that seemed to be a fly through , then around about midday news came through of a Pallid Swift between the Captain Digby and Joss bay car park.

I decided to just go for it with little or no hope as i have dipped quite a few Pallid Swifts over the years , plus i have often been away either on twitches , holiday or just at work when they have been seen locally.

Well i was soon at Joss Bay when i saw a few birders (some i recognised) looking towards the sky , i quickly joined them to be told , 'You have just missed it' !!!!!!!

Some rather choice words were running through my mind ,,,,but it was then seen again flying out to sea .

Pallid Swift.

My initial views were distant and to be honest all i could id was a Swift sp , it had a Swallow for company.

Thankfully the Pallid Swift flew back towards us and i eventually got some great views and could happily add Pallid Swift to both my Kent & British bird lists.

This has been a real bogey bird for me over the years , so i was really pleased to see it , however whilst watching this bird (still with the Swallow in tow) a 2nd Pallid Swift joined them (just like buses ......)

Curlew.

There was also a close flock of Curlew (approx 35 birds) which gave really good close views.

Curlew.

3rd November 2018 :  Botany Bay Kent

Adult White Billed Diver

An adult summer plumage White Billed Diver was seen on Friday the 2nd November of the coast in Ramsgate (great find by Scott Haughie).

It was relocated off Botany Bay on Saturday 3rd and i headed straight there and joined the already assembled birders and had great views through my scope.

White billed Diver.

This was a new bird for my Kent Bird list (i think it was for many) and in such superb plumage , my photos don't do this bird justice (there are many better) but the views were stunning.

Digi scoped White billed Diver.

Local Birding......Including a 1st for Oare Marshes

23rd October 2018 : Oare Marshes

American Golden Plover.

News of a reported American Golden Plover on the East flood at Oare marshes reached me  early afternoon on the 23rd October.

After a quick phone call to MW which confirmed the sighting i soon headed to Oare Marshes.

I was soon onto the AGP which was out in the middle of the East flood among 500+ Golden Plover , the dark crown and broad supercilium was a real stand out feature at that range.

The AGP was smaller than the  Golden Plover and the primaries extended beyond the tail , on a couple of occasions the AGP  stretched it's wings and the greyish under wings were clearly seen.

AGP with Golden Plover.

I also saw the American Golden Plover on the 26th October from the hide on the East flood which afforded better views of this 1st record for Oare Marshes.

American Golden Plover.

31st October :  Restharrow Scrape  Sandwich

Jack Snipe.

I called into Restharrow scrape on the 31st October in the hope of seeing the Jack Snipe and i was not disappointed , in fact i saw 2 birds which were both asleep at first.

Jack Snipe.

They did wake up for a short while and did their 'Bouncy' movements which are superb to witness.

There was plenty of Common Snipe at least 6 birds and 2 in particular took a liking to an abandoned Coots nest.

Common Snipe & Jack Snipe

2 Common Snipe & 1 Jack Snipe.

There were good numbers of Teal present which were all spooked when a 'Ringtail' Hen Harrier flew through.

'Ringtail' Hen Harrier.

GREY CATBIRD .... in Cornwall

Grey Catbird

Yesterday the 19th October 2018 i headed down to Treeve moor near Land's End in Cornwall with RR in the hope of seeing the GREY CATBIRD.

We arrived on site just before 7am and walked around the right hand side of the farm and waited with baited breath for day light and the Grey Catbird to hopefully appear .

There were lot's of Redwing & Skylark overhead plus several Meadow Pipits & a Brambling called but i could not see it.

We also saw 2 Chough which were a very welcome year tick.

However at approx 7.45am someone further down from us heard the Grey Catbird call and not long after we were greeted with  a great view of this only 2nd ever record of  Grey Catbird in the UK.

Dark grey plumage with black cap.

We watched the Grey Catbird on & off for over an hour with some truly great views , it was calling quite abit ,overall dark grey plumage with paler grey face .

Red undertail coverts (honest).

Red undertail coverts and broad dark grey tail were easily seen , it flew further up the hill and begun to feed under the berry bushes giving some more great views

Feeding underneath brambles.

Grey Catbird.

Grey Catbird  (shaky video)

On the way back we called into Drift reservoir and saw the 3 Ring necked Ducks which were a bit distant but a welcome addition to my year list , many thanks to Richard for a great day out.

3 New Birds ........ on my Oare Marsh Bird List

               Sunday 7th October 2018 : Oare Marshes

                                                                

Dark Bellied Brent Goose.

On Sunday morning i headed to Oare Marshes in the hope of a good sea watch as the winds were quite favourable NNE.

I soon joined the early birds already by the sea watch hide and was informed that they had already seen several Great Skuas , on my arrival an Arctic Skua was flying towards us and landed on the sea and was a new bird for my OMBL (Oare Marsh Bird List) .

This was followed by a Bar tailed Godwit which flew overhead calling and was remarkably still in summer plumage.

Bar Tailed Godwit.

There were plenty of Dark bellied Brent Geese flying high up the Swale and several Common Terns were also seen.

Then a small flock of 7 Little Gulls flew high towards us but were lost as they past the Sun, a further 4 Little Gulls were seen during the morning.

We were soon treated to quite a sight as 5 juv Gannets flew towards us and then down Faversham creek before  returning past us and down the Swale , we also saw 2 Ravens flying towards the pylons whilst watching the Gannets.

1 of the 5 juv Gannets.

My 2nd new bird for my OMBL was of course Gannet , ( i really should do more sea watching from Oare Marshes !!).

 We had an interesting bird a long long way out which thankfully flew towards us up the Swale and we could see that it was indeed another Arctic Skua.

It was great watching a Peregrine chasing a Redshank over the Swale , luckily for the Redshank it was not a successful hunt this time.

Arctic Skua.

After 3 hours sea watching (longer for MW, NB & RR) we decided to have a walk around the East flood , good numbers of the usual waders were evident as was a single Pintail , we also saw the  Little Owl  in the bushes behind the East flood hide .

On our way past the hide we saw Chris Dyett making haste towards us with the news he had seen & heard a Yellow browed Warbler in the tree by the car park, this was awesome news as there had never been one seen at Oare Marshes before (as far we know !?).

We thanked Chris for the info & his great find and then made our way around to the car park and after only a couple of minutes we heard a Chiffchaff then another bird caught our eyes and a Yellow browed Warbler popped out in front of us giving a fantastic view , and then disappeared again.

I only managed a very poor record shot of this superb bird (poor even by my low standards) but here it is anyway.

Yellow browed Warbler.

Yellow browed Warblers are not rare by any stretch of the imagination but to see the 1st one for this reserve was great and was my 3rd new bird for OMBL this morning.

Beluga Whale in the Thames ..... Plus White Stork in Kent

26th September 2018   Gravesend

Beluga Whale 

Unbelievable news of a Beluga Whale in the river Thames and viewable from Gravesend Kent on the 25th September left me with an anxious wait until the next day the 26th September as i was to busy on the the 25th.

News finally came through the Beluga Whale was still present on the 26th so i headed there and after a 2km walk had some really great views of this remarkable Beluga Whale.

Just about make out the blow hole.

The Beluga Whale just about to break water.

Typically very hard to get a decent photo (for me anyway) but i did manage some record shots , these incredible animals are normally seen in Greenland & Russian waters , so it's a few thousand miles of course , i really hope it finds it's way home safely.

Beluga Whale.

25th September 2018 : Knowlton Kent.

White Stork.

News of a White Stork in a field near Knowlton on the 25th September tempted me to go and have a look , it was quite distant but through the scope the views were pretty good.

White Stork.

It was unringed and the leg & bill colouration looked quite strong (normally faded in captive birds , in my experience anyway!?) the wing feathers did not look damaged , however it will alas go down in my note book as origin unknown.

Some Great Birds seen in Kent in August

                                 Restharrow Scrape Sandwich 
                      
                                     19th August 2018.

Wood Sandpiper.

August has been a busy birdwatching month for me , after my Pelagic trip in early August most of my recent birding has been at local sites , on the 19th August i called into Restharrow Scrape and had some decent views of  Wood Sandpiper.

Very noticeable eye strip.

Wood Sandpiper are one of my favourite waders and i really enjoyed great scope views of this bird , also present were 2 Green Sandpipers & 2 Garganey in eclipse plumage.

2 Garganey in eclipse plumage.

Grove Ferry  22nd  &  30th August 2018

Spoonbill.

I had a couple of visits to Grove Ferry in August , on the 22nd an early morning visit proved a good choice as i saw the Spotted Crake from the viewing ramp , to distant for a photo but i had good views through the scope.

There was also an immature Spoonbill present plus 2 Garganey were also seen, on the 30th i paid another visit in the hope of seeing a Whinchat , after getting some info from Martyn Wilson (many thanks) i was soon looking at 5 Whinchats .

Digi scoped photos of Whinchat.

I then called into the David Feast hide n the hope of seeing the Kingfisher's that have been putting on a show of late and i was not disappointed.

Kingfisher.

Dungeness  22nd August 2018

American Black Tern.

An American Black Tern was expertly found on the 21st by Stephen Message on Burrows pit , and news broke that it was still present on the 22nd , so on my way back from Grove Ferry i headed straight there , it took some finding as there were 20+ Black Terns also present and not having any experience with American Black Tern before it took me awhile to find it.

However once i got my eye in i was able to pick it out pretty much every time thankfully.

American Black Tern is a sub species of Black Tern and is the first one ever recorded in Kent.

Black Tern

Black Tern.

Swalecliffe 31st August 2018

Purple Heron Photo by Alex Perry.

On the 31st August i received a phone call from Chidders informing me that Geoff Burton had just found a Purple Heron at Swalecliffe , so i dropped everything and headed straight there, on arrival i could Geoff & Ted looking out towards the Brook.

 I was soon informed that the Purple Heron had dropped down into the Brook and had not been seen since , then Julian & Alex Perry arrived , we were all chatting when Geoff picked up the Purple Heron flying towards us , it then headed of west and sadly not seen again.

Great find by Geoff Burton who informed me  it's a 1st record for Swalecliffe, many thanks to Chidders for the tip off and to Alex Perry for the use of his great photo.